Vintage French Autocar (Bus)

[Aloniuk]

I've just finished this little model. I think the bus could be a Berliet or Latil, from the 1930s...... The print looks like it originates from the 40s/50s/60s. If anyone could provide information?

Thanks.

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

And hi, Aloniuk. That’s a fine looking French bus you’ve made there. I appreciate that you didn’t build the bus in its original tab-and-slot format, but used classic paper modeling techniques to complete your project. I see you also added custom treads to the tires, as well as fitting a scratch built wooden deck and railing to the rooftop luggage rack. The deck effectively covers the unsightly place-markings on the roof of the model, too.

I’m sorry I can’t give you more details about your model except for a rough translation of the phrases at the top of the page. In the box on the top left it says, “Road Series – Perfect Assembly Without Gluing.” The phrase in the center says, “The Board (page) Makes A Toy.” It seems the untranslatable “Cartonia” is the publisher’s name for the series. The box on the right gives the publisher’s name, H. Bouquet, Paris.

Because your photograph of the original page is a bit distorted, (they always are…) I’m including a scan of the original model in case someone else might like to build it. I also found a second bus by the same publisher and I’m including it, too. On second thought, after seeing the two models together, I’d say they were published postwar, probably sometime in the early 1950s.

All for now,

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Aloniuk]

[QUOTE=Thumb Dog;789080]Hi All,

Thanks, Thumb Dog - yes, I did all of those things (well spotted) to upgrade the original.

I only wish I had the higher-resolution version you uploaded before. Never mind, I now have the other one thanks to you.

[Philip]

I like that one. Nicely built.

[whulsey]

Nice work on the bus. Not a expert on French buses, but I think its a late 30's Latil. Oh and the 2nd on that Thumb Dog posted is I believe a Berliet.

[Aloniuk]

Originally Posted by whulsey

Nice work on the bus. Not a expert on French buses, but I think its a late 30's Latil. Oh and the 2nd on that Thumb Dog posted is I believe a Berliet.

Thanks, Whulsey. I did think Latil 👍🏻